Expander



F. E. KEY.

EXPANDER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR 22, 1911.

Patented June 3, 1919.

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F. E. KEY.

EXPANDER.

APPLICATION HLED MAR. 22. I917.

' 1,305,808, Patented June 3, 1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

.rrnn sinus FREDERICK E. KEY, OF $1. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

EXPANDER.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patentd June 3, 1919.

Application filed March 22, 1917. Serial No. 156,620.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK E. KEY, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, a resident of the city of St. Louis, State of Missouri, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Expanders, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and ex act description, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

' My invention relates to an expander adapted for use in expandingtubes, flues, plugs, and other tubular articles.

. One of the objects of my invention is to produce an expander in whichthe pressure members may be first gradually forcedoutwardly to obtainthe desired maximum outward pressure, and then rotated or rolled on theinner face of the expansible article to exert this pressure uniformly atall points throughout a continuous circular path. The expanded portionof the article is thus uniformly and firmly seated by a uniform insteadof a constantly increasing pressure. The preferred form of the inventioncomprises a tapered pin arranged between and fitted to the pressurerolls, a feed screw for advancing the tapered pin to force the rollsoutwardly, and means for releasing the feed screw after the desiredpressure is obtained, so as to allow the tapered pin to rotate the rollswithout forcing them outwardly.

With the foregoing and other objects in View the invention comprises thenovel construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinaftermore specifically described and illustrated in theaccompanying drawingswherein is shown the preferred embodiment of the invention; however, it

is to be understood that the invention comprehends changes, variationsand modifications which come within the scope of the claims hereuntoappended.

Figure I is a plan view of an expander constructed in accordance with myinvention. 7 t

Fig. II is a fragmentary view showing the power transmission device asit appears when the feed screw is released'from the operating memberQ VFig. III is a longitudinal section showing the expander applied to aboiler plug.

Fig. IV is a section on line IVIV, Fig. III.

A designates a spreader pin having a tapered end portion 1 which liesbetween and engages tapered pressure rolls 2.' The spreaderpinis alsoprovided with an operating member 3 having openings for the reception ofan operating rod, and also having a non-circular portion 3 adapted toreceive a wrench; The pressure rolls are rotatably mounted in a cage B,the latter being rotatably fitted to a'thrust member 0 having an annulargroove 4 for the reception of a pin 5 which projects from the thrustmember. An anti-friction ring 6 is arranged between the thrust memberand a flange on the cage B; The pressure rolls 2 are retained inthe'cage B by projections 7 (Fig. IV) at the outer face of the cage, andby a retaining ring 8 which lies within the cage.

To illustratethe operation of the expander, I have shown a boiler plug Dhaving'a tubular flange 9 adapted to be expanded to firmly engage thetapered wall of an opening in a sheet metal member 10. This member 10may be considered as a portion of the water leg of a boiler. The objectis to expand a portion of the tubular flange 9'so as to firmly seat iton the tapered face of the opening in the member 10. The spreader pin Amay be rotated and advanced between the pressure rolls 2 with the resultof forc ing said rolls outwardly, at the same. time rolling them on theinner face of the flange 9.. During this operation the thrust member (lis seated on the member 10 and the cage B is slowly rotated by themotion transmitted through the pressure rolls 2.

The means for feeding or advancing the spreader pin A comprises anexternally threaded tube 11 screwed into the cage B and firmly seated.on an abutment ring 12, which lies between the sleeve 11 and theretaining memberv S; An internally threaded sleeve, or nut, 13 fitted tothe tube 11 has an inturned flange 1d (Fig. III) which lies adjacent toa collar 15 formed integral with the spreader pin A, an anti-frictionring 16 being interposed between the collar 15 and the flange 14. Themeans for transmitting movement from the operating member 3 to thethreaded sleeve 13 comprises a collar 17 secured to the operatingimember3 by means of a pin 18. A power transmission pin 19, slidably mounted inthe collar 17, may be forced into a notch 20 in the end face of thethreaded sleeve 13, by means of a spring 21. The power transmission pin19 may be disengaged from the sleeve 13 by manipulating an operating rod22, which extends from said pin 19, and the latter may be retained inits inoperative position by arranging the pin 22 in one of the recesses24-, as shown in Fig. II. When the power transmission pin 19 is locatedin the notch 20, motion may be transmitted from the operating member 8through said pin 19 to the threaded sleeve 13, thereby causing thespreader pm A to advance longitudinally when it is rotated by a wrenchor other suitable device applied to the operating member 3. When-thepower transmission pin 19 is latched in the inoperative position shown111 Fig. II it cannot transmit movement to the threaded sleeve 13, andthe spreader pm may then be rotated without advancing be tween thepressure rolls '2.

At the beginning of an expanding operation, the threaded sleeve 13 maybe turned quickly by hand for the purpose of advancing the spreader pinto force the pressure rolls 2outwardl and into engagement with theflange 9. T e spreader pin is then forcibly rotated by means of a wrenchor other suitable tool applied to the operating mem her 3. Thetransmission pin 19 being located in the notch 20, the spreader pin willadvance with the threaded sleeve 13, thereby spreading the pressurerolls 3, at the same time rotating them on the inner face of theexpansible flange 9. This action gradually expands the flange 9, andwhen the desired maximum pressure is transmitted through the rolls 2 theexpanding operation should bestopped to avoid undue pressure, but therolls 2 should be permitted to transmit this a maximum pressureuniformly at all points throughout their circular path. To accomplishthis, the power transmission pin 19 is disengaged from the threadedsleeve 13 and latched in the inoperative position shown in Fig. II. Thespreader pin A is then rotated to impart a rotary movement to thepressure rolls 2 without moving them away from each other. The expandedportion of the flange 9 is thus smoothed and firmly forced onto itstapered seat.

The expander I have shown may also be used in forming the tapered seatsto which the boiler plugs D are applied. lVhen used for this purpose,the abutment ring 12 is removed from the cage B and the feed screw 11 isforced against the retaining member 8 which lies adjacent to the rolls2. This enables the relatively large part of the tapered member 1 toengage the pressure rolls. The thrust member G is then applied to thewall 10 so as to locate the pressure rolls in the opening to befinished. The spreader pin and sleeve 13 are rotated simultaneouslyuntil said sleeve 13 engages the cage B. The desired expansion is thenobtained and the tapered seat may be uniformly finished by releasing thetransmission pin 19 and turning the spreader pin about threerevolutions. It will be observed that seats of standard size and shapemay be readily made in this manner, and since all of the boiler plugs Dare made alike they will all fit the standard seats.

The pressure rolls 2 are preferably so arranged that their axes will lieat a slight angle to the center line of the expander, as shown in Fig.I.

Iclaim: V

1. In an expander, rotatable pressure rolls arranged to engage the innerface of the article to be expanded, a rotatable spreader pin having atapered portion which lies between and engages said pressure rolls, afeeder including an externally threaded tube surrounding said spreaderpin, an internally threaded sleeve fitted to said externally threadedtube, said internally threaded sleeve having an inturned flange at itsouter end, a collar formed on said spreader pin and located within saidinternally threaded sleeve at a point adjacent to said inturned flange,a power transmission collar fixed to said spreader pin and locatedadjacent to said inturned flange, a spring pressed power transmissionpin slidably mounted in said power transmission collar and arrangedparallel with the axis of the spreader pin, said inturned flange havinga notch for the re cention of the slidable power transmission pin, thelatter being movable in a direction parallel with said axis of thespreader pin so as to move into and out of said notch, and a latchdevice for retaining said power transmission pin in an inoperativeposition to allow the spreader pin to turn the pressure rolls withoutforcing them away from each other.

2. In an expander, rotatable pressure rolls adapted to engage the innerface of the article to be expanded, a cage in which the pressure rollsare mounted, a rotatable spreader pin having a tapered portion whichlies between and engages said pressure rolls, a feeder for advancingsaid spreader pm, said feeder including a rotary feed screw secured tosaid spreader pin so as to rotate and advance said pin, a relativelystationary screw threaded tube to which said rotary screw feed isfitted, and means for securing said screw threaded tube to. said cage,said screw threaded tube being adjustable to cocupy two differentpredetermined positions relative to said cage, and a stop devicecooperating with said screw threaded tube to predetermine the distancebetween said two different positions. 7

3. In an expander, rotatable pressure rolls adapted to engage the innerface of the article to be expanded, a cage in which the pressure rollsare mounted, a rotatable a feeder for advancing said spreader pin, saidfeeder including a rotary feed screw secured to said spreader pin so asto rotate and advance said pin, a relatively stationary screw threadedtube to which said rotary feed screw is fitted, said relativelystationary tube being screwed into said cage, and

an abutment member arranged in said cage to limit the lnward movement ofsaid relatively stationary screw threaded tube, said 10 abutment memberbeing removable from the cage so as to allow said relatively stationarytube to be advanced in the cage and thereby adjusted toward saidpressure rolls.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I 15 hereunto aflix mysignature.

FREDERICK E. KEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained'for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G.

